NEWSFLASH: NZ Sharemarkets Slip On Opening

New Zealand share markets dipped sharply today in reaction
to last week’s dramatic slump in the United States
sharemarkets.

In this morning’s trading, the New Zealand
sharemarket opened well down with the benchmark top forty
index falling around 100 points to 1973, a fall of around 5
per cent.

The fall here is in reaction to US developments
where the threat of rising interest rates lead to the
largest one day drop ever.

In New Zealand major companies
to have lost value are Telecom which has lost 40 cents, Sky
Television down 20 cents, and Independent Newspapers with a
36 cents drop. Other leaders Air New Zealand, Carter Holt
Harvey and Fletcher Energy have also been affected.

All
three companies have significant exposure to the technology
sector which has also performed poorly this morning with a
parallel 5 per cent drop but recovering 1 per cent in the
last hour.

While trading is light, those on the floor say
there is no panic selling and insiders expect profit taking
to pull the market up by the end of the
day.

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